Nearly 18 years after the “Miracle on the Hudson,” Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III says that day still lands in the middle of family life.
“In our household, January has always been full,” he wrote in a January 2026 Facebook post. “It brings the birthdays of our two daughters and then, much to Lorrie’s chagrin, my own. In 2009, the landing on the Hudson River quite literally landed in the middle of all of that.”
He added, “Those personal moments and that extraordinary day now arrive together each year. One looks ahead to what is to come, the other looks back at a day that tested everything I knew and everything I was prepared to do.”
Sullenberger landed US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River on Jan. 15, 2009, after a bird strike disabled both engines. All 155 passengers and crew members survived.
Passenger Brad Wentzell told PEOPLE in January 2024 what he saw from his seat. “I had a perfect view of that left engine where I was sitting, and it was on fire. It was sparks coming out, flames coming out,” he said. “You just knew something was wrong.”
Air traffic control cleared Sullenberger to return to LaGuardia or land at nearby Teterboro Airport, but he said they could not make it. “We can’t do it,” Sullenberger said, according to an audio recording of the incident. “We’re gonna be in the Hudson.”
The Air Force veteran had more than 20,000 hours of logged flight time. He and his crew of five told passengers to brace for impact before the emergency water landing.
“My definition of success for that flight was complete, absolute: had even one person perished, I would’ve considered it a tragic failure,” he told PEOPLE in January 2024. “I couldn’t have celebrated any of this.”
Sullenberger returned to work eight months after the landing and flew a limited number of flights before retiring in 2010. He also served on US Airways’ flight operations safety management team.
Since retiring, he has published books and spent years speaking about aviation safety, crisis management and leadership. One of his books, Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters, was adapted into a Clint Eastwood-directed film starring Tom Hanks.
“I have a richer, fuller life than I did before,” he told PEOPLE in January 2024. “I’m doing things professionally as a keynote speaker that I never anticipated. I never thought I’d be good at it.”
He added, “I was never one who sought the limelight or wanted to be the life of the party, or [was] comfortable talking in front of big groups, and now it’s amazing what you can learn to do and become good at.”
According to his LinkedIn page, Sullenberger worked as a keynote speaker for The Harry Walker Agency from 2010 to 2025 and also flew privately after his professional career ended. From December 2021 to July 2022, he served as the US ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization, according to CNBC.
He has lived in San Francisco with his wife, Lorrie, whom he married in 1989. They have two daughters and welcomed their first grandchild in 2024.
“When the newest Sullenberger arrived and I looked into her eyes, I saw the next generation, which gave me joy, hope, gratitude, and a glimpse into the future,” he captioned a November 2025 Instagram post. “And for her, I want to leave the world better than I found it.”
In August 2025, Sullenberger was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. In a July 2026 statement, he said, “It is early stage. For now, this means a name may not come easily to me, I forget a story I have recently told, or I don’t sleep as well … This new phase of my life has challenged what it means to be of service. And the answer is to speak up.”
He later told PEOPLE he was “in the beginning of this long journey” and said the condition has included short-term memory loss.
“Though it may impact my memory of the past, this diagnosis will not prevent me from looking forward to and appreciating our future,” he said. “I will navigate this chapter with my wonderful family by my side.”
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